Are E-Cigarettes Safe?

The internet is full of information on vaping. Unfortunately, it’s also full of misinformation about vaping.

Major news outlets continue to spread badly researched, inaccurate or even deliberately misleading propaganda, despite the fact that there is no doubt that vaping is much safer than continuing to smoke traditional cigarettes.

Don’t e-cigarettes explode though?

Another commonly reported safety concern with e-cigarettes is the tendency for the batteries to explode and/or catch fire unexpectedly. These reports seem to either be exaggerated or even completely fabricated with something such as:

“My friend knows a guy who once worked with someone, who heard of someone who read on Facebook about this person having their e-cigarette battery explode and kill everyone they’d ever met or come into contact with…AND I know for a fact they didn’t misuse it or do anything silly with the battery, the factory just makes them so they explode/catch fire normally…”

The same “expert independent evidence review” by Public Health England also found that the risk of fire appears to be comparable to other similar domestic electrical products i.e. other household devices that commonly use batteries, torches come to mind as many use the same batteries as common e-cigarettes, but strangely don’t take peoples hands off too often.

Misused batteries of any sort can pose a risk of exposure to the acids inside due to leaking, fire, and in extreme cases they can even explode. This seems to be what feeds the fire (pun intended) in these stories, but when used properly and by someone who has basic safety knowledge, they are quite safe and very unlikely to explode.

“The risks from fire or poisoning could be controlled through standard regulations for similar types of products, such as childproof containers (contained within the TPD but which are now emerging as an industry standard) and instructions about the importance of using the correct charger.”

At the end of the day, vaping is a personal choice, much like smoking.

You should aim to be very well informed about any decision you make about your own health. Vaping is almost certainly a higher risk to your health than not smoking or vaping at all. However, if you currently smoke and you’re holding back because of debunked, badly researched articles spreading around claims that vaping is 10 times more dangerous than smoking, or because of blown-out-of-proportion half truths like articles claiming vaping kills your dog, you can rest easy.

Vaping is NOT more dangerous than smoking, and over-the-counter nicotine concentrations won’t kill your pets any more than the hundreds of other household items you’ve already not been feeding them.